The present invention relates generally to a pollution control apparatus and particularly to an apparatus that prevents undesirable fuel discharge from a marine fuel tank.
Not all rainbows are beautiful. In particular, the rainbow produced by fuel spilled on this nation's waterways indicates an environmental hazard and thus constitutes one rainbow which is not beautiful.
All fuel systems for boats must be vented to permit fuel to flow to the engine and for filling of the fuel tanks. On boats with integrated fuel tanks, the vent is generally located on the exterior of the hull near the interior location of the tank. In most cases, the vent is observed when fueling to learn when the tank has been filled. For example, a tank full of fuel is indicated by ejection of fuel from the vent. However, ejection of fuel into any river, lake, bay, inlet, or harbor is against Federal Law and may result in a fine of up to several thousand dollars. When it is considered that there are millions of boats with integrated tanks, many with three or four tanks, which are fueled at least weekly, it can be estimated that millions of gallons of fuel are likely discharged into the waterways each year.
Two basic approaches have been taken to this problem. U.S. Pat. No. 4,963,169 to Granville and the Fuel/Air Separator sold by Racor Division of Parker Hannifin Corp., in Cleveland, Ohio, try to prevent fuel from spilling into the waterway during marine tank overflow by preventing fuel from exiting the vent line into the waterway. However, this may result in the tank overflowing from the fuel tank inlet. Such overflows can spill onto the deck, where they must be cleaned up with rags or washed overboard, both instances causing unwanted pollution.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,854,469 to the present inventor, provides small fuel reservoir with a window and a baffle configuration. The window enables the user to view the fuel in the reservoir and discontinue the fuel filling operation in time to prevent the fuel from overflowing the reservoir and out the vent line into the waterway. However, the reservoir must be located where the user can see the fuel entering the reservoir and know when to cease the fueling operation. The baffle configuration prevents the fuel entering the reservoir from directly accessing the reservoir's vent opening which connects to the boat's vent.
Water level indicating devices are disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 258,872 to Ashcroft (water/steam separator) and U.S. Pat. No. 3,849,771 to Applin (swimming pool). Both devices use a floating member to trigger an alarm when the fluid level attains a predetermined level, and the Applin device includes a magnetic reed switch that is positioned manually to set the water level that triggers the alarm.
While the above described structures may be successful for their intended purpose, there is no teaching or suggestion of the present invention.